Shadowed Memories
by AlexandraMori
Summary: It was supposed to have been the happiest day of their lives. Until one begrudged man tore it all away from them.
1. Chapter 1

_Jack stood at the alter; his heart pounding as he ran a shaky hand through his dark brown hair_

_The huge doors at the end of the aisle opened and Jack tuned everything out as he saw Sally walk towards him; the long white dress flowing behind her and her dark red hair falling in curls all around her shoulders. She smiled at him and he smile back, completely in awe of the beauty that was his Sally. _

_She was almost at the alter steps and he had reached out his hand when there came an explosion from the two doors. Jack watched in horror as Sally fell; running to her._

_"SALLY!"_

_There was another explosion as an n agonizing pain ripped through his chest and he fell to his knees by Sally. Mustering his strength he gathered his bride in his arms; the blood soaking her dress and spilling over his hands as he held her close. He was aware that his blood was dripping onto her stomach but didn't make to wipe it away._

_"J...J-jack-" she gasped, tears streaming down her face. She was deathly pale and bleeding out as her grip lessened more and more on his._

_"Sh-Sh-" he said, vision failing as he felt himself grow colder._

_"D-d-don't speak..." he leaned his heavy head against hers._

_"I...love you Jack..." she whispered as she closed her eyes. Her hand went completely limp in his and he knew he was crying. _

_"I love you to, Sally…I'll find you again. I promise…." he whispered back; the screams from all around him fading as he to closed his eyes. His voice was barely above a whisper as the darkness enveloped him completely. "…I'll find you.''_

_Jack and Sally were rushed to the hospital but by then it was too late; the doctors did everything they could but they could not save the Bride and Groom in time. Jack Hallows and Sally Tailor were declared husband and wife and were buried together underneath a large oak tree; just like they would have wanted. _

_**"Such a shame...Killed on their wedding day! Poor souls… I talked to dear little Sally minutes before it happened-she was so happy and excited to be starting her new life with Jack."**_

_**"Yes, I'm sorry to see them dead. At least now they can be together forever without any hindrance."**_

_**"Do they have any idea who the gunman was?"**_

_**"No. They just know that he was part of the wedding party."**_

_**"Ugh. Killed by a friend! Pity, pity, pity..."**_

_**Andrew Wilcox stood over their graves; a cigarette in his mouth. He felt no pity for the bride and groom like the others at the funeral had. They had all been asking who the murderer was- completely unaware that he was in their midst.**_

_**Andrew tossed the burning cigarette on Jacks grave; smirking. Served the morons right after what they did to him.**_

_**Turning he walked off, whistling.**_

_Andrew Wilcox died one year later after he was beaten to death by men he owed money to. They found his body half buried in mud; his face half eaten away as bugs wriggled and squirmed through it. He was buried officially in the town graveyard; five feet away from the Bride and Groom he killed._

Jack jerked awake; a gasp escaping his mouth as his hands clutched his chest. His night shirt clung to his chest with sweat and Jack tried to recall what the nightmare was about.

A wedding...smiling faces and hugs from living people who he couldn't make out. They all seemed so familiar so hauntingly familiar...as though he knew them. An organ began to play the wedding march and jack had felt a sense of pure joy as he watched a woman, a beautiful also hauntingly familiar woman in a gorgeous gown made her way to him. A sharp sense of longing before flashes of light and he watches her crumple to the floor...he runs to her but horrible almost blinding pain rips across his chest.

The dream had ended there and no matter how hard Jack tried he could not remember any living people he knew. Come to think of it he himself had been _alive_ in the dream as well! _Alive_ and getting _married_! But something had happened at the wedding...something horrible...

He'd been having this dream for about a month now…and each time it changed somehow; another detail was added. Jack got the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that this was no dream but….a memory he was having. A memory that, try as hard as he may, he could not recall. It was starting to agitate him to some degree.

The fog settled across his mind once again and Jack sighed, laying down and draping an arm across his eyes.

_Whoever the woman or those people were, they were gone now._ Jack thought as he fell back asleep.

And he couldn't help but wonder _where._


	2. Chapter 2

The next day Jack walked through the square; observing the preparations of Halloween decorations and banners. He turned from the behemoth that had been showing him a particularly horrible pumpkin lantern when he saw a flash of red disappear behind a corner. Never one to drop an interest jack followed and peeked around the corner.

A very tall woman stood observing the screaming lilies. She had long flowing red hair and pale blue skin and seemed to almost radiate with a kind air.

Suddenly the bottom of her obviously overfilled basket gave way to the load and the contents spilled. Jack came from around the corner and knelt to help her.

"Oh!" she said eyes wide as she glanced at him as they picked up her things. "Thank you! I've been meaning to get a new one but I haven't had enough...enough...time..."

Her words trailed off as they looked at each other; eyes locking. Her big green eyes made his heart jerk and a severe sense of Deja vu drifted through his bones.

"Have we met before...?" he asked, not breaking the eye lock.

She shook her head slowly, eyes squinted slightly.

"No, I...don't believe we have..." she said quietly.

"What's your name?"

"Sally."

He smiled slightly. "I'm Jack. It's nice to meet you, Sally."

A loud crashing sound from behind the wall broke them out of their daze and the two jumped up. Sally took her things in her arms and bowed her head to him before hurrying off.

_**Sally.**_

The name rang a bell that he didn't recognize.

Shrugging he tucked his folders under his arm and walked in the opposite direction.

* * *

><p>A small exclamation of shock escaped her lips as she stumbled; her hand reaching out and grabbing the wall as she shut her eyes tightly.<p>

_Wedding….smiling faces, laughter….gunshots…_

Scenes that flashed through her mind too fast for her to decipher.

A small pain erupted in her lower back and she pressed a hand to it gingerly.

What _was _that? She'd never had that flashback before….not until she met….

Could this have something to do with _Jack Skellington_?

But that would mean that she knew him in another life. Which was preposterous since that was the first time they'd ever met! Or was it?

She caught her breath and straightened; making sure she didn't drop anything before heading off again.

It was almost laughable….She'd had weird dreams before, _bizzar_ dreams. But never one of a wedding and with herself as the bride! But the man in the dream….she knew his name; she felt it in her heart whenever she had the dream that she knew him and….loved him so much…and the way he looked at her as she walked down the aisle…..he loved her so much as well…..

And of course, the gunshot and the immense, unbearable pain that always ended the dream.

She stopped at the corner and waited for the pumpkin carts to pass when a stunning realization stopped her cold.

This was no dream, was it? It was a memory. A memory from when she was alive. She had been married (or engaged) and she had been killed at her own wedding.

As for the man at the wedding she had no idea if he had lived or not. She didn't even remember his name; although it was right at the edge of her mind, just beyond the gray haze of her forgetfulness.

Little did Sally know that the man she was looking for, the man of her dreams was much closer than she thought…

* * *

><p>Jack paced his writing room; hand on the back of his head. Zero watched, worried, from his basket in the corner as his master muttered to himself repeatedly.<p>

"Sally. Sally…..Why does that name ring a bell, Zero? Whenever I looked into her eyes I knew I had some special connection with her. Could it be….Possibly, could she be the one…..In my reoccurring dream about the wedding? But that would suggest that we had been in love when we were living….This is impossible! Why am I remembering this now, Zero?"

The dog whined and Jack sighed.

"I suppose I have to ask her if she remembers me, don't I? Or perhaps she'd think I was insane…What if I'm wrong, boy? What then? "He sat down on his desk chair and shook his head. "Next time I see her I'll ask her if she's been having the same dreams. But…What then after? What do we do if we have the same dreams and we lived and….loved each other in life? I suppose we then try and see if those feelings are still there….Why wouldn't they be, Zero? She is very beautiful a lady and even if she doesn't have the same dreams as I then surely I can try and court her, couldn't I?"

Zero whined and Jack nodded. "It's worth a try, then. Come now, boy, let's get some sleep.''

* * *

><p>The next day was surprisingly rainy (A good luck weather in Halloween town. Everybody was more active on rainy stormy days.) and Jack strode through the Town streets; keeping out an eye for shockingly red hair. Suddenly, five minutes into his search he saw her talking with one of the witch sisters near the fountain. Taking a deep breath, Jack approached her.<p>

"Good afternoon, Sally.''

She turned, smiling nervously up at him; blushing. "Good afternoon, Jack.''

"Listen, there's something I need to ask you; it's rather urgent. You see for the past few weeks-months rather-" he stopped, immensely aware that a few people had stopped and now were eavesdropping rather obviously on their conversation. He smiled warmly at Sally. "Perhaps we could discuss this over lunch?''

Sally blinked. "Of course. Yes, Jack.''

"Brilliant.'' He took her hand and led her into a small pumpkin juice parlor and they sat in the far corner. Sally was perplexed at Jack's sudden urgency to speak to her and she felt her stomach drop as she recalled her dream. Was that what he wanted to speak about? Had…had he had the same dream as her?

"Sally, for the past few weeks-months even-I've been having this one dream over and over again but each night-"

"-It adds another detail.'' Sally said quietly.

"Exactly! And in the dream I'm alive and I'm at a wedding-my wedding I suppose- and surrounded by people who are smiling and granting me their best wishes and then…then the bride comes out and she's beautiful and she's-well she's my bride and…and she gets hurt. She gets shot, Sally. Right as she's by the alter and I scream her name and yet I can't hear myself say her name so I don't know what her name is, exactly. And then I get shot too as I run to help her and….and I look up and see….I see a man's face by the window and….Oh, it's all so _muddled_, Sally.'' He runs his hands over his face and then slowly lowers them to look at her. He sees her shocked expression and the scared look in her eyes as she sits still and silent for a few moments.

"Jack….'' She clears her throat. "That sounds like a horrifying dream.''

"It is, truly, Sally. Which leads me to what I must ask you.'' He leans forward over the table. "Do you have the same dream?"

"W-what?"

"The dream of the wedding and the murdered bride and groom-do you have the same dream?"

"I-I have to go home now-"she says, trying to keep her voice even. She's scared and confused now and she has no idea what's going on and naturally her instinct is to….well it's to run. She hates that about herself but the way Jack was looking at her and the way she felt…she had to get away and think.

"Wait! Sally I-"he goes to grab her hand but she pulls it away, grabbing her bag and pushing her hair back.

"I'll see you around, Jack.''

"But-"

She leaves before he could get a straight answer out of her; leaving them both more lost and confused than before.


End file.
